OQ Technology has been selected as one of five prospective anchor tenants for the Western Defence Forge, following the Western Australian Government’s announcement of the outcome of its Early Market Engagement process. The submission was made jointly with AROSE, the Perth-based remote operations industry consortium, under the Australian Sovereign Space Systems Initiative — a collaboration designed to establish satellite manufacturing, integration and test capability in Western Australia and to explore a sovereign 5G direct-to-device (D2D) constellation model built around locally controlled infrastructure, industrial capability and secure standards-based connectivity.
The Western Defence Forge has been established to support sovereign manufacturing capability and position Western Australia as a global hub for investment in major defence and advanced manufacturing. The 179 submissions came from local industry, defence companies, advanced manufacturers, technology providers and international organisations across nine nations.
Western Australia covers roughly 2.5 million square kilometres, and terrestrial mobile networks reach a small fraction of it. With the support of the Western Australian Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, OQ Technology and AROSE have worked through a structured discovery process with agencies and government trading enterprises across the State, to establish whether the proposition could add value on more than one front: not only through the manufacturing and industrial ecosystem it would create, but by delivering real connectivity value to Western Australia, with the economic benefits that follow.
Reliable connectivity beyond the terrestrial network is also a precondition for much of the State’s digital transformation agenda, which cannot reach places where there is no way to move data. And it matters for wellbeing, safety and operational resilience — connecting remote communities, workers in the field, emergency services volunteers and travellers on remote roads. Because OQ’s service is built to the global 3GPP mobile standard rather than a proprietary protocol, the same network can connect both equipment and people: direct-to-device connectivity for sensors, vehicles and infrastructure; connectivity for drones and suitably equipped unmanned ground and maritime systems operating beyond terrestrial coverage; and direct-to-mobile alerts to standard, unmodified mobile phones, with two-way messaging in development. This standards-based architecture is intended to allow sovereign users to retain greater control over critical communications infrastructure, spectrum, operations and data while avoiding dependence on a closed proprietary ecosystem. What the process established is now shaping the design of the next generation of OQ satellites.
While the proposal is centred on Western Australia, the capability and the supply chain behind it are national, drawing on spacecraft subsystems and components manufactured in South Australia, electronics, software and precision engineering from the eastern states, and research capability around the country. The intent is to add to the national space industrial base rather than draw activity away from the centres that have built it.
Omar Qaise, Founder and Chief Executive of OQ Technology, said:
“We are proud to be among the five prospective anchor tenants identified for the Western Defence Forge, and to have reached this point alongside AROSE. For OQ, this is about much more than placing satellite capabilities in a new location. It is about demonstrating how a European and NATO space technology company can help a trusted partner build sovereign D2D capability: locally industrialised, nationally controlled and based on open global mobile standards. We did not arrive with a product and look for buyers. We spent months asking Western Australian organisations what they actually need, and the answers are now shaping the satellites and services we intend to build.
“We are grateful to Defence West and the Western Defence Forge team for their support, and for the trust and confidence they have placed in OQ Technology, AROSE and the AS³I programme as a whole. We also acknowledge the leadership and sponsorship of Premier Roger Cook and Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, without which an initiative of this ambition would not be possible.”
Premier and Defence Industries, Minister Roger Cook, said:
“By bringing industry, researchers and innovators together, the Western Defence Forge will help local businesses tap into major opportunities, grow their capabilities and create new jobs and investment across Western Australia.”
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Industries, Amber-Jade Sanderson, said:
“Building more things in Western Australia means creating more jobs, growing local industry and strengthening Australia’s sovereign capability.”
OQ Technology will continue engaging with the Western Australian Government as the proposals are further developed, including the potential pathway toward a sovereign D2D satellite capability that combines Australian industrial participation with OQ’s European-developed 5G NTN technology and operational experience.
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